Cocktail

There's a secret spot in the Americana with a wicked hamburger and a mean Mai Tai. You won't find it street side as you wander down shopping lanes. You probably won't see it from the fountain or green. No, this hidden gem is up three escalators, past mannequins bearing high-end children's clothing, tucked into a corner on the upper floor of Nordstrom. Bar Verde is a bastion of low-key elegance and unostentatious quality with a distinctive Seattle vibe. Warm wood paneling, flattering vintage lighting, private booths and cool alternative music define the dining room.

Glendale High School Class of 1957 is planning a 50-year reunion from Nov. 2 to 4 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. The three-day event will include a Friday night casual cocktail party, a golf tournament, shopping or hanging out and culminating with the banquet and program on Saturday and a Sunday morning no-host breakfast. For more information or to offer planning assistance, contact Tom Paton at (760) 944-9640 or Tom@paton.com; Scott Paulsen at (949) 644-5578 or HSPaul@aol.

In the slanguage of the saloon, “neat” means a measure of alcohol served without ice, water or anything else. Ordering a drink “neat” also means you enjoy the taste of a particular alcoholic beverage. And if you do, then Neat - which opened last month in Glendale - is, just like the bar in the Talking Heads song “Heaven,” for you. But Neat isn't a place where you'll find Jack Daniel's No. 7 among the 250-plus bottles behind the 30-foot bar. Instead, Neat's owner/operator Aidan Demarest - a Boston émigré who made his “sultan of the shaker” reputation at downtown L.A.'s Edison and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Spare Room - has stocked his shelves exclusively with super-premium spirits of such price and rarity that it borders on “booze porn.” You enter Neat through a façade of river rock - longtime area residents will recognize it as the former Side Bar - into a candlelit world of dark polished woods, settle into one of the comfortable, high-backed barstools, and survey the posted “menus.” One's a list of available libations, which extends to pisco, a South American brandy.

There are many things to love about Pasadena, but what I love most is how history meets modernity. This town values the vintage and welcomes the new. Such is the case at the Luggage Room, a nifty pizzeria and cocktail bar where old bricks meet new flavors. Next to and affiliated with Pasadena's much-loved La Grande Orange, The Luggage Room is housed in the baggage room of the 1934 Pasadena train depot at Raymond and Del Mar. These days, crimson paint covers the walls and haunting chandeliers grace the ceiling, but it retains the warmth of an old leather suitcase.

The next time the city gets around to designating a historical site, it should consider the town's oldest saloon -- Stark's. Considering the history and personality of the town, Stark's should have at least equal billing with McFadden's Wharf. Opened in 1902 by Henry Stark on that funny little half-block known as 21st Street, it was a familiar and popular watering hole and site of the town's oldest running poker game until some time in the 1950s. In 1960, Sid Soffer bought the place and renamed it Sid's Blue Beet.

There's a secret spot in the Americana with a wicked hamburger and a mean Mai Tai. You won't find it street side as you wander down shopping lanes. You probably won't see it from the fountain or green. No, this hidden gem is up three escalators, past mannequins bearing high-end children's clothing, tucked into a corner on the upper floor of Nordstrom. Bar Verde is a bastion of low-key elegance and unostentatious quality with a distinctive Seattle vibe. Warm wood paneling, flattering vintage lighting, private booths and cool alternative music define the dining room.

Soup-dumpling temple Din Tai Fung is about to open its doors at the Americana at Brand shopping center in Glendale, with exclusive truffle soup dumplings and a full bar. Its debut is scheduled for Monday. Located next to the lobby entrance of Nordstrom, the new 6,800-square-foot, 160-seat location will be the third Los Angeles-area Din Tai Fung (the other two, known for their long lines, are in Arcadia) and the fourth U.S. outpost of the popular Taiwan-based chain, which has 80 locations worldwide, the Los Angeles Times reported . “The opening of Din Tai Fung is part of the premier lineup of tenants opening at the Americana at Brand during our fifth anniversary," developer Rick J. Caruso said in a statement.

Fat Dog, the Montrose gastropub catering to locals, was a good thing. Basin 141, which took over its location, is an even better thing. Brothers Dave and Joe Friedman mixed some mean drinks back when they were bartenders at the prior incarnation. Now they're mixing and managing at the new digs. Basin 141 is a vintage-inspired modern gastropub serving libations and bites that appeal to both the new crop of cocktail scene-sters and the classic Montrose regulars. The brothers Friedman updated the interior just enough to make it their own but not so much to alienate Fat Dog or (earlier still)

In the slanguage of the saloon, “neat” means a measure of alcohol served without ice, water or anything else. Ordering a drink “neat” also means you enjoy the taste of a particular alcoholic beverage. And if you do, then Neat - which opened last month in Glendale - is, just like the bar in the Talking Heads song “Heaven,” for you. But Neat isn't a place where you'll find Jack Daniel's No. 7 among the 250-plus bottles behind the 30-foot bar. Instead, Neat's owner/operator Aidan Demarest - a Boston émigré who made his “sultan of the shaker” reputation at downtown L.A.'s Edison and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Spare Room - has stocked his shelves exclusively with super-premium spirits of such price and rarity that it borders on “booze porn.” You enter Neat through a façade of river rock - longtime area residents will recognize it as the former Side Bar - into a candlelit world of dark polished woods, settle into one of the comfortable, high-backed barstools, and survey the posted “menus.” One's a list of available libations, which extends to pisco, a South American brandy.

There are many things to love about Pasadena, but what I love most is how history meets modernity. This town values the vintage and welcomes the new. Such is the case at the Luggage Room, a nifty pizzeria and cocktail bar where old bricks meet new flavors. Next to and affiliated with Pasadena's much-loved La Grande Orange, The Luggage Room is housed in the baggage room of the 1934 Pasadena train depot at Raymond and Del Mar. These days, crimson paint covers the walls and haunting chandeliers grace the ceiling, but it retains the warmth of an old leather suitcase.

Descanso Gardens visitors can anticipate more than just beautiful foliage this summer. Starting June 24, the gardens will host an eight-week jazz music series on its main lawn, while simultaneously launching the Camellia Lounge, a low-key cocktail bar to be housed in the Japanese Full Moon Tea House. The concert series will serve as a replacement for the Pasadena Pops program, which last year announced plans to relocate to the Rose Bowl after 15 years at Descanso Gardens. “The idea behind the music program is simple, and that is during the summer months when the days are long and warm, the most beautiful times in the garden are in the evening,” Executive Director David Brown said.

Glendale High School Class of 1957 is planning a 50-year reunion from Nov. 2 to 4 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. The three-day event will include a Friday night casual cocktail party, a golf tournament, shopping or hanging out and culminating with the banquet and program on Saturday and a Sunday morning no-host breakfast. For more information or to offer planning assistance, contact Tom Paton at (760) 944-9640 or Tom@paton.com; Scott Paulsen at (949) 644-5578 or HSPaul@aol.